


Let's Take a Ride

by Cherry (crazylove)



Series: So Long [4]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: #JohnJaeWeek2021, #JohnJaeWeek2021 Day 4, Alternate Universe - College/University, Cheating, EDM - Freeform, M/M, Music, Music Festival, Ohio, Recreational Drug Use, Road Trips, YuWin mention, airbnb, minor tummy troubles, post college worries, sappy friendship, too many people in a minivan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:28:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29347419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazylove/pseuds/Cherry
Summary: Johnny's two worlds collide as he goes on a weekend road trip with his best friends and his boyfriend to a music festival. What could go wrong?
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong, Kim Jungwoo/Mark Lee (NCT), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: So Long [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156499
Comments: 9
Kudos: 64
Collections: JohnJae Fan Week 2021





	Let's Take a Ride

**Author's Note:**

> TW:  
> \- Recreational Drug Use  
> \- Cheating

Johnny sat on the steps outside their apartment with Yuta, waiting. It was chilly right now, so Johnny was a bit cold in his hoodie. But it was supposed to get hotter later. They were going to be sweltering later at the festival even though it was only mid-April.

“Where are they, Johnny?” Yuta asked, tersely.

“I don’t know.” Johnny looked down at his phone. It was blank.

“They’re 15 minutes late.”

“I know,” Johnny said. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon.” He glanced over at Doyoung and Taeyong, who were leaning against Doyoung’s car, talking. Doyoung was parked beside the minivan. The minivan’s hatch was open, waiting for the few remaining bags. Johnny told everyone to pack light but there was barely any room left already.

Johnny took a deep breath, feeling worried. Jaehyun wasn’t usually late. Something must be going on.

His phone buzzed.

Johnny unlocked it quickly, thinking it would be a text from Jaehyun. But it was a new email.

His heart stopped when he saw the subject line.

_CONGRATULATIONS: JOB OFFER ENCLOSED_

Johnny swallowed, staring at his phone in shock. He knew they would be hearing back from the interviews soon, but he didn’t expect it to be on the Friday morning he was leaving to go on a weekend trip with all his friends.

Johnny opened the email with a shaky tap.

_Dear Mr. John Suh:_

_We are pleased to offer you the position of Business Associate I in our Chicago office, starting as part of our July cohort. Details below._

Johnny read the email over several times.

He’d gotten the job. He’d gotten the job in Chicago.

He wasn’t sure what to think.

“Johnny!” Yuta shook his shoulder, shaking him out of his thoughts. “What are you looking at?”

“Uh—” Johnny’s first instinct was to tell Yuta, but then he thought better of it. He locked his phone with a click and shook his head. “N-nothing.”

“Call your boyfriend,” Yuta said. “Why didn’t you pick them up?”

“I had to get the rental van…” Okay, in hindsight it would have been better to pick up Jaehyun, Jungwoo and Mark on his way back from getting the rental. Johnny never said he was the best trip planner.

“Call them!” Yuta insisted. “We’re never going to make it on time.”

“I’ll call.”

Johnny was about to call when a car drove into the parking lot and stopped near them. Jaehyun jumped out of the front seat. Jungwoo and Mark climbed out from the back. Johnny jogged over, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Sorry, sorry,” Jaehyun said, when Johnny reached him. Johnny pulled him into a hug and kissed the side of his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked. Jaehyun nodded. He let go so they could get everyone’s bags out of the trunk of the Uber.

“I should have picked you up,” Johnny said, as they walked to the van.

“Trust me, it was better you didn’t.” Jaehyun sighed a little.

“Hi Johnny!” Jungwoo called, jumping over to strangle him down into a hug. Johnny laughed, hugging Jungwoo back. He pulled Mark into a bro hug and gave him a squeeze.

“You look pale,” Johnny said, releasing Mark and looking him over. Mark made a face.

“He’s always pale,” Jungwoo said, peering at Mark. Then he stuck his finger in Mark’s ear.

“Hey!” Mark said. They started poking each other, laughing.

Johnny smiled fondly. “Give me your bags,” he said.

Johnny didn’t mean to be _that_ person, but after his birthday, he began spending all his time with Jaehyun. How could he help it? He was infatuated with Jaehyun. He was totally in love. He’d never felt so caught up in someone before. If he was awake, if he was breathing, Johnny wanted to be near Jaehyun. They didn’t even have to touch. He only needed to be in his presence, and he would be happy.

But touching was the best-case scenario. Lots of touching.

They spent a lot of time hanging out at Jaehyun’s apartment. Naturally, they hung out with Jungwoo, too. Jungwoo had started dating Mark in January. Jaehyun would never say anything but Johnny knew that Jaehyun was thrilled Jungwoo was no longer bed hopping every night. “Everybody needs a ho phase,” Johnny reminded his boyfriend. Jaehyun agreed. They’d both had one.

Johnny was surprised at how much he clicked with Mark. The kid was a freshman and at first, he was quiet, shy and a bit weird. But when he started to open up, Johnny saw that Mark was funny, easy to talk to and they both liked the same stupid videos on TikTok. He especially like the way Mark helped Jungwoo mellow out and the way Jungwoo helped Mark come out of his shell. They were very cute together.

Over the past few weeks, they had become a tight foursome, spending most night watching movies, playing video games. or going out to eat. Johnny liked to play big man on campus and give the underclassmen tips about what classes to avoid or help Mark cheat on his meal plan. But nothing beat the way Jaehyun looked at Johnny when he was kidding around with Jungwoo and Mark. Jaehyun looked at Johnny like he was the most amazing person in the world. There was no one more important to Jaehyun than Jungwoo. That’s why Johnny made it his mission to treat Jungwoo like the little brother he never had, and Johnny knew that Jaehyun loved that about him. Johnny could tell when they went to bed every night. Johnny was thankful for Jaehyun’s quiet bed and thick walls. The only thing they really had to worry about was not moaning too loudly while Jungwoo and Mark finished the video game or the movie. But if the other two weren’t home, Johnny and Jaehyun were as loud as they wanted to be. They had a streak going. 58 days in a row and counting. Johnny kept track.

The only bad part was Johnny hadn’t seen Yuta and Taeyong very much lately.

He did feel guilty about it. This was their senior year. They still weren’t quite sure about the future. Would they even all be in the same country after they graduated? Johnny didn’t miss a Friday night hanging out with them but outside of that, he was scarce.

And now Johnny knew for sure that he was moving after graduation.

That’s why Johnny was so excited about this weekend. This was his chance to hang out with his old friend family and his new friend family. Maybe his last chance. He wanted them all to get to know each other and love each other just as much as he loved all of them.

The weekend was going to be fun.

All they needed to do now was get on the road.

Johnny took a deep breath.

“Hurray, the gang’s all here!” Johnny called, waving Doyoung and Taeyong over after he finished packing the minivan.

“Hurray.” Yuta stood up from the steps. “We’re only leaving a half hour late.”

“I’m sorry, Yuta,” Jaehyun said. “We were having some issues this morning.”

Johnny gave Yuta a look to calm down.

“Before we leave, can we have a talk?” Johnny asked.

Johnny smiled as everyone gathered around. Yuta looked annoyed. Jaehyun looked frazzled. Jungwoo looked excited. Taeyong looked calm. Doyoung looked bored. Mark looked a bit sick. Johnny put his arm around Mark and gave him a reassuring squeeze. He was probably nervous because of Johnny’s friends. Even Jaehyun hadn’t spent a ton of time with Yuta and Taeyong. Johnny wanted that to change. He kept smiling.

“I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for coming,” Johnny said. “WallyFest is a really great tradition and I know we’re going to have a lot of fun. Jaehyun, Doyoung, Jungwoo and Mark have never been before so lets take care of them, okay, boys?” He looked pointedly at Yuta and then smiled at Taeyong.

“It’s really fun,” Taeyong said.

“What I love the most about WallyFest is that it’s a time to cut loose!” Johnny said. “You can do whatever you want. Don’t think about school or the real world or responsibilities or any of that. It’s a time to just be with your friends.”

“Yes, because we’re all friends here,” Yuta muttered.

Johnny stopped talking and gave him another look. Yuta tipped his head up and stared back at him.

“Johnny, we are _late_ ,” he said. “You know I want to see Sicheng’s set.”

“It never starts on time,” Johnny mumbled. But the mood of his little speech had been broken. It was time to cut his losses. “Okay, everyone, let’s go.”

Everyone headed for the van. Johnny pulled Jaehyun aside and cupped his face, looking down at him.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

Jaehyun huffed out a sigh and nodded. “Yeah. We’re here. I feel terrible for making Yuta late. He seems pissed.”

Johnny glanced over at Taeyong and Yuta arguing about who had to sit in the backseat of the van with Mark and Jungwoo. Yuta lost.

“He’s in a bad mood for some reason,” Johnny said, looking back at Jaehyun. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s too early. Don’t take it personally.” He kissed Jaehyun’s forehead and then his lips.

He thought about the email.

Johnny had a new job in Chicago. Jaehyun still had a year of school left in Michigan.

Everything was changing so fast.

Johnny knew he should tell Jaehyun but he didn’t want to think about it.

First, they’d have a fun, relaxing weekend. Like Johnny had just said, WallyFest was a time to cut loose and not worry about anything. They could figure out the rest later.

Ten minutes later, they were finally on the road. Jungwoo, Mark and Yuta sat in the very back. Doyoung and Taeyong sat in the bucket seats in the middle. Jaehyun sat in the front seat beside Johnny, who was driving.

“Johnny, drive fast!” Yuta nagged from the back. “Look at the time on the GPS. Why couldn’t we leave yesterday?”

“We all had classes yesterday,” Johnny called back.

“It would cost an extra day at the Airbnb,” Taeyong said, reasonably.

“Which is another thing,” Yuta said. “Why couldn’t we just sleep in the tent, like usual?”

“It wouldn’t fit everyone,” Johnny reminded him.

“Um,” Mark said. “Does anyone have to go to the bathroom?”

“We just got on the road,” Johnny said. “Can you hold it?”

“Well… uh… something I ate last night isn’t agreeing with me—”

Suddenly, all the guys in the back of the van groaned. Jaehyun pressed his hand to his face.

“Oh my god!” Doyoung gasped. “It smells like a dead animal back here!”

“I’m sorry!” Mark squeaked.

“Johnny, can you stop somewhere?” Jungwoo called, rolling down the window.

“Oh my fucking god,” Yuta muttered.

Johnny pulled into the Sheetz that was just down the street. Everyone had to get out to let Mark out so he could make a full sprint inside. Jungwoo ran after him.

“Is that kid seriously going to listen to his boyfriend take a shit?” Yuta said as he climbed back in the van.

“Maybe provide moral support…?” Taeyong mused, leaning against the side of the van.

“Since we’re stopped, we might as well see if they have that snack I was telling you about,” Doyoung said, standing behind Taeyong.

“The seaweed one? Sure.”

Taeyong and Doyoung headed inside the gas station.

“Johnny,” Yuta said.

“I’m sorry,” Johnny said. He turned to look at his friend. “I seriously thought we could get out by eight like we planned.”

“I told him that we were going to be there.”

“Maybe we’ll still make it,” Johnny said. “I’m gonna floor it. I swear.”

“In a minivan? With 7 full grown ass men in it? I bet this thing can barely top 60. Speaking of which, I have to suffer in the back with Mark who has the worst farts in the world. Thanks.”

“Hopefully he’ll get it out of his system?” Johnny said, smiling the best that he could.

“It’ll probably take five years, just like everything else so far.” Yuta sighed heavily.

“Sorry,” Jaehyun said, breaking in. “He was a little sick this morning. I thought it would pass. We should have stayed.”

“No, no.” Johnny placed his hand on Jaehyun’s leg. “He’s gonna be fine. Sometimes it just takes… two times.”

Yuta groaned, loudly.

“Yuta, come on,” Johnny said. “It’s part of the adventure.”

“Not really,” Yuta said. “You know this is our last festival, right? We’re not going to go next year. This is our last time. If you and Taeyong were okay not getting your dick wet for three days, it could just be the three of us. Like always.”

“Hey!” Johnny said, sharply. Yuta could be in a bad mood, but Johnny wasn’t about to let him take it that far. “Jaehyun is right here. You know it’s not about that.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Yuta muttered. “Sorry, Jaehyun.” Yuta huffed, pushing himself out of the backseat once again. “I’m gonna get a drink. Might as well take advantage of being stuck at a goddamn gas station.” Yuta slipped out of the van and stomped his way into Sheetz.

“They have a beer cave…” Johnny explained, glancing over at his boyfriend.

“I feel like an asshole,” Jaehyun said with a sigh. “We shouldn’t have come and crashed your guy’s trip.”

“No, no, baby…” Johnny leaned over to give Jaehyun a kiss. “Don’t say that. We discussed it. We all agreed. Doyoung’s here, too.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t bring his cousin and his cousin’s boyfriend,” Jaehyun said, rolling his eyes.

“Who hasn’t had diarrhea on a road trip?” Johnny said. “It happens!”

Jaehyun laughed a little, shaking his head. “I don’t know. Seriously, Johnny, I’m thinking about calling us an Uber. We’re barely out of town. You, Taeyong and Yuta can just chill like always.”

“Jaehyun.” Johnny looked at him closely. “I’ve had fun with them in that tent for three years. But it’s our senior year. It’s time for an upgrade. I can’t think of any better upgrade than staying in an actual cabin with real beds with the love of my life.”

Johnny grinned as Jaehyun blushed and looked at him like he was too cheesy. Johnny loved that look and those red cheeks. He poked one of Jaehyun’s dimples.

“And maybe I can’t go three days without getting my dick wet,” Johnny murmured in a low voice. “We don’t wanna break the streak.” Jaehyun pushed his shoulders, playfully.

“Johnny!” he groaned. Johnny laughed. He was serious about the streak, though.

“Plus, we haven’t spent any real time with my friends,” Johnny said. “I want you to hang out with them. They’re important to me. This is going to be fun. You can’t leave, baby.”

Johnny smiled as Jaehyun nodded, slowly.

“I want to hang out with them,” Jaehyun said. “And get to know them better. I want to learn all the dirt about you.”

“There’s no dirt on me!” Johnny said, laughing. “No dirt I haven’t already told you myself.”

“What’s Yuta talking about?” Jaehyun asked. “He wants to see something at noon?”

Johnny raised his eyebrows and looked around. “Yuta has this crush on a DJ. His name is DJ WinWin but his real name is Sicheng. They talk and flirt every festival, but Yuta has never been able to seal the deal. I think he was hoping to this year. It’s like his last chance.”

Jaehyun leaned back in his seat and sighed. “Shit. I feel bad.”

“Don’t worry,” Johnny said. “I have no idea why Yuta hasn’t hit it yet. He’s usually not shy….”

“It’s different when you actually like someone,” Jaehyun said, grinning at Johnny.

“Yeah,” Johnny said, grinning back. “That’s why we didn’t hit it for three months.”

“But now…” Jaehyun said, teasingly.

“Now…” Johnny teased back. “Tonight is 59. You know, we should do something special for 60. I’ll think about it.”

Jaehyun laughed. Johnny leaned in and kissed him but this time it was a different type of kiss. He kissed Jaehyun hard, dragging his tongue through Jaehyun’s mouth. He was addicted to Jaehyun’s deep groans. He loved the way Jaehyun grabbed his chin and kissed him even harder. Johnny tipped his head back with a moan.

“Jesus,” Yuta said from behind them, climbing back into the van with a paper bag. Johnny frowned as Jaehyun wrenched away from him. “We’re never making it out of here. How am I the only one who’s back?”

Doyoung and Taeyong made it back soon after Yuta with a plastic bag. Mark and Jungwoo came back a little while after that.

“Feeling better, Mark?” Johnny asked as everyone was getting back in the car.

“Yeah,” Mark said, weakly. “Sorry, everyone…”

“Farts are natural,” Jungwoo said.

“Aim out the window next time,” Doyoung said.

Johnny looked around, making sure everyone was buckled and settled before he started the minivan again. It was a four-hour drive to the EDM festival. Johnny wasn’t sure how he, Taeyong and Yuta first heard about WallyFest. It was in the middle of nowhere in Ohio. When Johnny drove them there the first time, they had no idea what to expect. But it turned out to be one of the greatest weekends of their lives. They’d been going every year since. Each year, the festival got bigger and bigger. This year, Johnny even saw an Instagram ad for it.

This would be the best year yet.

“Hey, I know,” Johnny called as he got on the highway. “Let’s listen to Sicheng’s set from last year. Yuta, are you on the Bluetooth?”

“No, but I am!” Jungwoo called out. Suddenly, the car clicked from the radio to some hyper, upbeat, high-pitched K-Pop girl group song with a chorus that screeched _LOVE LOVE LOVE_ over and over again. Johnny looked at Jaehyun. His boyfriend shrugged. Apparently, Jungwoo and Mark were the only ones who had ever heard of the song and they knew every word, singing it at the top of their lungs. Jaehyun slunk lower in his seat. Taeyong looked impressed. Doyoung was cracking up with laughter.

“Jesus. It’s 9am!” Yuta said.

“And you’re drinking a beer,” Taeyong pointed out.

“It’s because they’re right beside me…”

“Well, it’s vacation,” Johnny said, glancing in the rear-view mirror. “We should be having fun.”

Mark and Jungwoo didn’t miss a beat, finishing the song and laughing harder.

They listened to the rest of the 5 song EP. After the initial shock, Johnny found himself bouncing along. It was the kind of music that would wake you up at least. Especially when Mark and Jungwoo wouldn’t stop singing in the back, dancing and laughing.

It was a music festival. They should enjoy the music.

Jaehyun gave Johnny’s hand a squeeze. “I’m so sorry he’s crazy,” Jaehyun called out to the group, turning around to look at everyone.

Jungwoo disconnected his iPhone after the EP was over. “Yuta, did you wanna play your playlist?” he asked.

“It’s not as good when it’s not live,” Yuta mumbled.

“Play it,” Taeyong said. “You play it all the time in the shower.”

“We know why he does that…” Johnny muttered, giving Jaehyun a look. Jaehyun laughed.

“Fine,” Yuta said. “This is what you’re missing out on. Because everyone made us late.”

Johnny rolled his eyes, but he hoped listening to Yuta’s precious bootleg recording would calm him down.

The first electronic note blasted through the minivan as Yuta hit play.

_What’s upppppppp! This is DJ WinWin, hitting you with the hottest set in WallyFest. Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOO!_

DJ WinWin’s voice faded as the music turned up. DJ WinWin favored harsh electronic beats and sound effects overlayed with either super obscure or super trendy Chinese pop songs that no one knew either way but still vibed hard with. The first five minutes of his set were just his own electronic beats, crashing around crazily in jarring patterns so everyone could get hyped up and ready to explode. It was very fun in the middle of the woods, drunk or high, surrounded by nothing but grass and trees and people and fresh air.

In a packed minivan, it was a bit too much.

“What is this?” Mark asked, covering his ears. “It’s giving me a headache.”

“Just a little EDM,” Johnny said, cheerfully. “Because we’re going to an EDM festival!”

“Hyung said EDM was like Lady Gaga,” Jungwoo said. Doyoung burst out laughing.

“I honestly don’t know much about it, Jungwoo,” Jaehyun called back to the backseat.

“Actually,” Taeyong said, turning back to Yuta. “It’s giving me a headache, too. I think it’s too early.”

Johnny glanced at Yuta, sitting stiffly in the back. He made a sympathetic face at his friend, but Yuta didn’t seem to notice.

“Fine,” Yuta said, turning the music off. “Why don’t we give the Bluetooth back to Jungwoo so we can listen to more girl group shit. No one was complaining about that.”

“Yay!” Jungwoo said. The car chirped _Jungwoo’s iPhone is connected!_

“Actually!” Johnny said, loudly, changing the input. “Let’s just listen to the radio.”

He tuned into Detroit’s Top 40 station. They listened to the same five songs five times in a row but at least no one was complaining anymore. The radio crackled and gave up once they were about an hour outside of the city. Johnny flipped around constantly, trying to find any station that wasn’t country music, but he was unsuccessful.

Country it was.

Johnny had burned through 4 cups of coffee that morning so about halfway through the ride his bladder hurt, and he’d held it as long as he could. Plus, the van needed gas. It was not good with the fuel economy. Johnny took the next exit, heading for a truck stop.

“Break time!” he announced. Half the van was sleeping, including Yuta. He jerked awake.

“Johnny, you said you were going to try to get us there!” Yuta said, sounding betrayed. Johnny winced.

“I can’t help it. I need to pee, and we need gas.”

Yuta sighed as everyone piled out, stretching and yawning.

“I got this babe,” Jaehyun said, nodding towards the gas pump.

“No, I can get it,” Johnny said.

Jaehyun pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. “It’s the least I can do. Now go pee. I could see you doing a potty dance for the last ten miles.”

Johnny almost laughed but thought better of it. His bladder was in a desperation situation. Luckily, the men’s bathrooms were right off the main entrance and full of urinals, since this was a truck stop. Johnny peed in no time and washed his hands, feeling a lot better.

He decided to wander through the truck stop and see if he could find Jaehyun something nice. There was a Dairy Queen and a McDonald’s attached to the truck stop. He saw Doyoung, Taeyong, Jungwoo and Mark over there. Johnny could use lunch. He was about to join them when he spotted Yuta in the smoking area with his vape.

Johnny headed over there instead.

“Hey,” he said, sidling up to Yuta.

Yuta looked over at him and offered his vape pen.

Johnny shook his head. “I’m driving.”

“Never stopped you before,” Yuta said, putting the vape back to his lips. Johnny rolled his eyes.

“One time. I was stupid,” he said.

They stood there in silence for a little while. Yuta tipped his head back and blew out a large bloom of white vapor.

“I feel like you’re annoyed,” Johnny said.

“Is that obvious?” Yuta said, sarcastically. Johnny sighed.

“You didn’t have to say yes,” Johnny said. “Taeyong and I asked you. We talked it over on two different Fridays.”

“Sure.” Yuta crossed his arms. “Because you guys would be so thrilled to spend a weekend without your boyfriends.”

“We would have if you were honest,” Johnny said. “I thought we were always honest with each other.”

Yuta shrugged. “Johnny, you say that a lot, but no one is 100 percent honest about everything.”

“I am,” Johnny said, surprised with how hurt that statement made him feel. “If you can’t be honest with your best friends… who can you be honest with?”

Yuta laughed a little. It was a bitter laugh.

“You have a very naïve view of the world, sometimes,” Yuta said, sliding his eyes over to Johnny again. Johnny didn’t know what to do with that.

Yuta took another hit and then turned his vape pen off. “Look. Someone can feel one way one moment and feel a different way the next. Cut me some slack, Johnny. Have you ever been the 7th wheel? I agreed to this, yeah, but it wasn’t until we started planning that I realized how much that was going to suck. And I haven’t been proven wrong yet.”

“You’re not a 7th wheel,” Johnny insisted. “Come on… we’re going to hang out all weekend together. I told Jaehyun that’s one of the reasons I wanted him to come. I want you guys to really get to know him.”

“That’s difficult because he doesn’t talk.”

“He’s quiet. But he talks a lot. He’s actually pretty funny…”

Yuta laughed again, that weird laugh through his nose. “Alright, Johnny…” he said. “But those two kids… are driving me nuts.”

“You were crazy, too, when we were sophomores and freshmen,” Johnny said. “Think about it… you can show them how to really have a good time. Loosen up, Yuta. I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“You haven’t seen me much lately,” Yuta said, giving Johnny a pointed look. Johnny sighed.

“I know,” he said. “That’s why this weekend is so important to me. I want to make it up to you. Starting now.”

Yuta shook his head a little. “You always have this idea…” Yuta said, slowly. “that everything is going to turn out happy and perfect, just like you pictured in your head. It’s your romantic side, Johnny.” Yuta tipped his head and looked Johnny over. Johnny wasn’t sure what to make of the look. He wasn’t sure he had ever seen it before.

“It doesn’t always work like that,” Yuta said. “You never know everything that’s going through someone’s head.”

Johnny opened his mouth to respond but Yuta had already turned away. Johnny watched him go, pushing his way back inside through the side door that led into the truck stop. He had no idea what was going on with Yuta. It was more than Jungwoo and Mark being annoying in the back and singing girl group songs. Johnny took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He’d figured it out.

Yuta was wrong, though. Johnny would make sure everything about this weekend turned out happy and perfect. Otherwise, what was the point?

Johnny headed back out to the van. It wasn’t at the gas pump. Then he realized that Jaehyun had moved it. Everyone, including Yuta, was sitting outside on a picnic bench, sharing food from McDonald’s and Dairy Queen.

“They got you a coffee,” Jaehyun said, handing Johnny a McDonald’s coffee cup as he sat down.

“Mmm…” Johnny said, breathing it in. “McDonald’s coffee. The highest quality.” He gave Jaehyun a secret grin as Jaehyun laughed with him.

“I owe you all for making you late,” Mark said. “I hope you like lunch.”

“You don’t owe us, Mark,” Johnny said. “But thank you.”

Taeyong pulled out the flyer with the official acts and started going through them with everyone. They made a plan about which bands, groups, soloists and DJs they all wanted to see.

“Hey!” Jungwoo cried. “Yuta. That DJ you like. He just updated his Instagram story to say that he’s going on tonight instead of noon.”

“See?” Johnny cried, triumphantly. “I told you. It’s all going to work out!”

Johnny grinned at Yuta, who was busy taking a bite of his burger.

He expected Yuta to smile back.

Yuta just shrugged.

🐻

Johnny breathed a sigh of relief when the GPS finally told him to take the next exit. They were about 10 minutes away now and Johnny’s heart fluttered with excitement. WallyFest had started about five years ago by a guy named Wally who lived in his mother’s basement in Ohio and did Korean and Chinese translations of popular American entertainment news on Twitter. He amassed quite a Twitter following. So much so, that he was able to gain leverage with small music companies.

Somehow, he managed to convince some of them to partner with him to start a music festival out in the woods in Ohio. It started with just one afternoon and evening of acts on a makeshift stage to an audience of mostly Wally’s twitter followers, some who actually came from Asia to attend. Apparently, it was a success, so it got bigger. And bigger. One of the best parts about WallyFest was it’s focus on Asian EDM artists and DJs. There wasn’t really any other music festival like that. Ironically, Wally was white. Go figure.

Johnny was fascinated by WallyFest. It was one weekend where everyone could cut loose and go crazy to great music, out in the woods without a worry in the world. He didn’t know how many acres WallyFest took over by now, but it was massive. There were three stages. The main stage for big acts. The DJ stage for all the hottest DJs. And the Up and Comer stage for the smaller acts. Food trucks were constantly coming in and out. There were people selling everything you could ever want or need. Also, there was a strong bartering system. Everyone felt like family. Johnny had never known a more welcoming place. He couldn’t wait to show Jaehyun. His heart was racing with excitement as he drove down the familiar two-lane road. They took the final turn and hit traffic. The narrow road was bumper to bumper with cars and trucks and RVs.

WallyFest had begun.

“We’re here, guys!” Johnny yelled. Almost everyone had passed out after lunch. He heard them stirring and murmuring, but they were still mostly asleep.

Jaehyun had stayed awake the whole time, his hand resting on Johnny’s leg.

“It’s crowded,” Jaehyun said, looking around. “So much traffic. But there are people out there.”

“Yeah.” Johnny smiled, following Jaehyun’s gaze. They were surrounded by nothing but grass. Some people were setting up camp nearby. “It’s still a little far from the actual festival. We usually stay at a campground a little bit ahead. Our Airbnb is in a perfect location. I can’t wait for you see it.”

Johnny had paid a premium price for the rental. Their Airbnb was a deluxe cabin, within walking distance of the music festival. It had 5 rooms, three bathrooms, a huge kitchen and a hot tub on the back porch. The pictures on Airbnb seriously looked like they came from a movie set. There weren’t any reviews yet but Johnny snagged it right away. He couldn’t believe how hard he lucked out. Unfortunately, it was stupidly expensive, especially since they decided to switch to the Airbnb just a couple of months before the festival. People made their arrangements for WallyFest at least a year in advance if they wanted to keep the prices low. Johnny didn’t tell everyone the real price of the rental. They would have flipped. Instead, he just asked for 100 dollars each from them. He covered the rest on his new credit card.

It was a lot of money.

But it was totally worth it to have the perfect cabin. This was an upgrade, just like Johnny told Jaehyun. Spending all that money was justified.

Johnny smiled to himself. Yuta wasn’t the only one with secrets.

Johnny believed in honesty, of course. But there was nothing wrong with little white lies to make sure your friends had a good time.

Johnny’s phone rang. He glanced at the number. It was the Airbnb host.

“Wow, he knows we’re here,” Johnny murmured. Was Airbnb tracking him on the app or something?

Johnny picked up the phone. “Hey, it’s Johnny,” he said, cheerfully.

“Johnny?” a deep voice on the other end said. Johnny had never spoken to the Airbnb host before. They’d only texted through the app. “This is Steve, your Airbnb host.”

“Hi!” Johnny said. “Perfect timing. We’re almost there. Just in some traffic now. How did you know we were in the area? I thought it was contactless check in.”

“Of course, Johnny,” Steve said, smoothly. “But look, I’m glad that I caught you before you made it to the house. There’s been a problem.”

“What?” Johnny’s heart slammed up to his throat. Jaehyun looked over at him, sharply. “What? What problem?”

“Nothing big,” Steve said. “Don’t worry. The problem is that the water is out in the whole house. A pipe burst. I’ll have a plumber by. I can’t have you staying in a place without running water. It’s not right. Good news is that it’ll be fixed by tomorrow.”

“What are we going to do tonight?” Johnny asked. Jaehyun rubbed Johnny’s knee, looking at him worriedly.

“Like I said, don’t worry,” Steve reassured him. “You’re in luck. I had a last-minute cancellation at another house. It’s a little further away, but you guys can stay there tonight. I’ll message you tomorrow when everything’s ready at your original place, okay?”

“Okay?” Johnny said, but he felt confused and a little overwhelmed. Why did this have to happen ten minutes before he got there?

“Don’t worry!” Steve said. “Thanks for being such a good customer, Johnny. I’m going to give you a five-star review for sure. I’ll message you the address of the other place and contact you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay…” Johnny repeated.

“Have fun tonight. Don’t go too crazy at WallyFest.”

Johnny hung up and the traffic crept forward.

“What was that about?” Jaehyun asked.

“The Airbnb host said that the plumbing in our rental is out,” Johnny said. He spoke loudly because he saw everyone was waking up. “So, we’re going to stay somewhere else tonight.” Johnny handed Jaehyun his phone. “That’s the address. Plug it in, baby.”

Following the updated directions on the GPS, they turned off the road and went down a dirt road that Johnny had never seen before. At first there were many other cars around. But then they took a turn and there were less. Then another turn and there were even less.

“Johnny, where are you going?” Yuta called. “This isn’t even close to the festival!”

“We have to stay in a new cabin for one night,” Johnny said. “It’s fine.”

They finally ended up at the address. Johnny rolled up in front, his stomach filling with dread.

“Where are we?” Doyoung asked.

The cabin looked like a place to get murdered.

There was nothing else around but the thick woods full of trees. The cabin was kind of lopsided. It was way smaller than the place Johnny had rented. Some of the windows were boarded up. One of the front steps was caved in.

“Johnny, where the fuck are we?” Yuta said.

“Listen,” Johnny said, struggling to keep his voice calm. “The Airbnb host said that our place has a plumbing problem. There’s no water. But he’s fixing it today. We just have to stay here one night.”

They all climbed out of the minivan. Johnny could feel the trepidation in the air. Johnny realized he didn’t even know how to check in. But Jungwoo tried the front door and it was unlocked. A pair of keys hung on a key rack just inside the doorway. They all filed into the front door.

They cabin was simmering hot, stuffy, stale and smelled bad. Everything was wood, the flooring, the ceiling, and the walls.

“This seems like a fire hazard,” Doyoung said, quietly.

They walked into the main room. Nothing was there. Not a couch. Not a table. Just a stool and a folding chair and a fireplace that they weren’t going to use. The kitchen was behind a closed door, walled off. Johnny opened it. The tile floor was full of dirt. There were random cans and bottles scattered on the countertops. There was a stove and a fridge. Taeyong went over and opened the fridge.

“Oh dear,” he said, immediately closing the fridge again. “You do not want to go in there.”

Johnny’s stomach churned with dread.

Just off the living room were two bedrooms. Each of them were small. Neither of them had a bed. One had the biggest spiderweb he’d ever seen and it made Mark scream.

There was a bathroom. The toilet needed to be flushed. The shower had all sorts of curly dark hairs stuck to the side and bottom.

“No, fuck this!” Yuta said, after they concluded their cabin tour. “We can survive one night without water. We’ll buy some in town. We can piss in the woods. And if someone has to take a shit, they can do it there, too. We don’t need to shower. We’re going to be at the festival all day anyway. Call him back, Johnny. We are not staying here!”

The others murmured their agreement. Johnny took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Yuta was right. They could survive one night without water. Maybe he had handled this all wrong. He picked up his phone and dialed Steve’s number back.

The line beeped.

A mechanical woman’s voice chirped out on the other line.

 _This phone number is no longer in service_.

“What?” Johnny said to himself. He tried again. 

_This phone number is no longer in service_.

Johnny blinked. This couldn’t be happening.

“What’s going on, Johnny?” Yuta said. They all stood in the living room together.

Johnny shook his head. “He’s not answering.”

“Call him back.”

“Guys?” Jungwoo piped up. “I’m looking at the Airbnb link Johnny sent us. The listing is gone.”

“What?” Taeyong said. Everyone started checking.

“How can it be gone?” Johnny said. “I paid.”

“I’ll call Airbnb customer service,” Jaehyun said, quietly.

“It’s totally not there!” Mark said.

Everyone fell into silence as Jaehyun remained on hold with Airbnb.

“You got scammed, Johnny,” Yuta said, breaking the silence.

Johnny closed his eyes and pressed a hand against the side of his face.

🐻

“There’s nothing within a one-hour radius,” Jaehyun said, curled up with Johnny on the grass. They could hear the pulsing bass from the DJ stage, but they were far away near the parking lot, so it was just quiet enough for them to make phone calls. Johnny hoped the others were having fun at the festival.

He felt like such an idiot.

Airbnb said there was nothing they could do as Johnny had agreed to switch places. Besides, the strict cancellation policy was in place, so it was too late for a refund.

“I paid over two thousand dollars for that place…” Johnny confessed, feeling a cramp in his stomach. Jaehyun gaped at him. Then he saw a look of anger wash over Jaehyun’s face that he had never seen before.

“Fuck Airbnb customer service,” Jaehyun said. “I’ll get a lawyer involved. We’ll get your money back, Johnny.”

Johnny laughed a little with a sigh and rested his head against Jaehyun’s shoulder. Jaehyun reached over to stroke his hair.

“I wanted this to be the best weekend ever,” Johnny said. “But instead, it totally sucks. I screwed up with Yuta. I screwed up with the Airbnb rental. Where are we going to sleep? We might as well go home. Everything’s ruined.”

Jaehyun shook his head and pulled away enough to grab Johnny’s face. “Listen to me, Johnny,” Jaehyun said. “You didn’t screw everything up. Shit happens, okay? You were just doing your best. The cabin isn’t… uninhabitable. We can make it work. We just need to clean it up. I’ll fix it, baby.” Johnny closed his eyes as Jaehyun pressed a lingering kiss on his forehead. “I love you, Johnny,” he whispered, then he kissed Johnny’s lips.

Johnny took a shaky breath. He loved when Jaehyun said that.

“Fix what up?” Doyoung asked, walking over with Taeyong.

“There’s nowhere else to go,” Jaehyun said. He stood up slowly. “We’ll have to stay at that cabin. So, I thought I could drive to Walmart and get a few things. With the traffic, it’ll take all day, but it’ll be worth it.”

Doyoung nodded. “I’ll go with you. I’m good at that kind of stuff.”

“I should go,” Johnny said, standing up as well.

“Me too,” Taeyong piped up.

Jaehyun shook his head. “No… I think we have it. Right, Doyoung?”

Doyoung nodded sagely. “This is your festival so enjoy it with your friends, Taeyongie. We’ll take care of things.” He gave Taeyong a quick kiss and it made Johnny smile.

Jaehyun gave Johnny a hug and a kiss. He whispered in Johnny’s ear, “You taught me to drive for a reason.”

Johnny felt his heart swelling, a mixture of pride and love.

Johnny stood next to Taeyong, watching their boyfriends go.

“Doesn’t Doyoung have a hot ass?” Taeyong asked.

“Jaehyun has a flat ass but… that doesn’t stop us,” Johnny said. They looked at each other and laughed.

“We’re dating the best men,” Taeyong said, with a dreamy sigh.

“Fuck yeah,” Johnny agreed. He took Taeyong’s arm and they wandered into the chaos of the festival.

For some reason, it was always easy for them to find each other at WallyFest, even as the festival got more and more jam packed with people. They found Yuta, Mark and Jungwoo near the DJ stage. Mark and Jungwoo were dancing with each other. Yuta looked amused.

“There you guys are,” Yuta said, smiling. Johnny was relieved. That was the first time he saw Yuta smile all day.

“Here we are,” Johnny said, rolling up his sleeves of his hoodie. He should have changed into his tank top, but he’d been too overwhelmed by the whole Airbnb situation. The others had changed into shorts and tanks when they were stopped at the cabin. There wasn’t much need to wear a lot of clothes. It was hot and everyone was dancing. Some people were already in their underwear and it wasn’t even night yet.

“I found Molly,” Yuta said. Johnny snorted through his nose. That explained it. “Who wants?”

“Who’s Molly?” Mark asked, wandering over with Jungwoo. Johnny laughed along with Yuta.

“Molly is drugs,” Yuta said. “X.” He tried again when Mark still looked blank. “E? Ecstasy? MDMA?”

“I don’t know it in English,” Jungwoo mumbled. Taeyong explained. Johnny’s Korean was not good enough for drug terminology.

“Ohhhh…” Jungwoo said. “Yeah, sure!”

“I got it from our usual guy,” Yuta said, handing pills out. Mark shook his head.

“I did D.A.R.E with my youth group,” he said, solemnly.

“Cheers,” Yuta said, passing around a bottle of water so everyone could swallow down the pill.

“Let’s have fun,” Johnny said.

A couple of hours later, he was feeling it. All the stress of the day had just melted away. They were at the main stage now, enjoying a Japanese girl group, much different from the K-Pop group they had been listening to on the drive in. These women could really sing. This was Johnny’s favorite type of EDM music—strong, powerful voices over tight, electronic beats. Johnny had taken his hoodie off somewhere. He was still way too hot, bouncing around, but it felt a little better to have a hint of a breeze across his sweaty chest.

Yuta sang along, the only one in their group who knew the words. It was nice to hear him sing. Yuta had an amazing voice. Johnny told him all the time, even though usually he only heard Yuta singing in the shower. But during WallyFest, they could do anything.

They danced all the way through the girl group’s set. Johnny wiped off his face, sweaty and breathing hard, as the main stage took a break.

“Picture,” Taeyong said, holding up his phone. It was a selfie of Doyoung and Jaehyun at Walmart. They looked like they were in a war zone. Walmart had been destroyed by all the people who came through for WallyFest.

“Better them than us,” Yuta said, spinning in a circle.

“I love him so much,” Johnny said, reaching out to pet Jaehyun on the screen. “I’m gonna marry him one day.”

“I’m gonna marry Doyoung,” Taeyong said, grinning.

“Can I marry all of you? I’ll be your third. I’ll do all the dirty stuff you don’t want to do,” Yuta said.

“Yes!” Taeyong said.

“What dirty stuff?” Johnny said. “I need a better idea.”

“Like this!” Yuta pretended like he was going to bite Johnny. They ran around, Yuta chasing Johnny as he laughed.

Another group took the stage. They kept dancing. Johnny felt like he was full of endless energy. The sun caressed his skin, making him drip with sweat but he didn’t mind. He shook his head like a dog, spraying sweat everywhere.

“It’s like a sprinkler!” Jungwoo said, dancing near Johnny.

“His sweat is on my face,” Mark grimaced, wiping his face carefully with the bottom of his shirt.

“I’m sorry, Markie!” Johnny said, grabbing Mark and giving him a squeeze.

“You’re so sweaty, Johnny,” Mark said, with a laugh.

“It’s call love juice!” Johnny declared.

“No, I think that’s something else,” Yuta said.

Another group took the stage and the crowd cheered. They danced along to someone who was playing the electric violin. Johnny had never heard music so incredible before. He could feel it filling his entire soul. It was so deep and rich and pure. He could see the musical notes dancing on the clouds. He tried his hardest to dance with them.

Johnny looked at Taeyong and Yuta, dancing near him. Jungwoo and Mark were holding hands, twirling each other and jumping around.

Johnny couldn’t think of anything better than this place at this time listening to this music. He felt the best he ever had. He grabbed Taeyong and Yuta’s hands, pulling them into a three-way hug.

“I love you guys!” he screamed over the pulsing music.

“We love you too,” Taeyong yelled back.

“I’m so sorry,” Johnny said. “I’m sorry I’m away hanging out with Jaehyun and fucking Jaehyun all the time. I really miss you. I want to be with you, too!”

“That’s okay,” Taeyong said. “You’re in love!”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Yuta said. “We get it.”

“Let’s find Yuta a guy,” Johnny said, looking at Taeyong. Taeyong nodded. Johnny made them all link arms and they wandered through the festival, aimlessly, just laughing. Other people laughed with them, gave them a thumbs up, joined their human chain, danced with them. Johnny barely knew what was going on. He was just having fun with the soundtrack of good music reverberating all around them.

It felt good. Johnny was really going to miss this. How could he live without his friends?

Suddenly, it hit him all over again.

How could he live without his friends when he moved back to Chicago?

“Hey!” Johnny said, stopping suddenly. He let go their arms so he could turn and look at them both. “I love you, guys.”

“We know Johnny,” Yuta said, rolling his eyes. “We were just talking about this.”

“No, I really really love you guys!” Johnny insisted.

“More than Jaehyun?” Yuta asked.

“It’s different,” Johnny said. “Jaehyun is my lover but… you guys are my _forever_ brothers!”

Taeyong laughed and Yuta pretended to gag.

“Lover?!” He spat out.

Johnny wrapped them both in a sweaty hug.

“Let’s never break up!” he wailed. “No matter where we are. Let’s always stay together. We’ll always be friends. Promise me. Promise me!”

“We will,” Taeyong said, sweetly.

“Yeah, because I’m still hugging you right now,” Yuta said. “I love you a lot. Did you put on deodorant this morning?”

They all laughed (and truthfully Johnny might have forgotten deodorant).

“I have something to tell you,” Johnny blurted out. “I got the job in Chicago. I’m moving back home! What if we never see each other again?”

“Wow!” Taeyong said. “Congratulations, Johnny!”

“Yeah, man,” Yuta said. “This is great. We’ll see each other again.”

“I’m scared we won’t,” Johnny confessed. “I don’t know if I should go.”

“Take the job!” Yuta said. “We will all go our separate ways, but true love never dies. We all have true love.”

“He’s right,” Taeyong said. “True love. We’ll always be together, Johnny.”

They stayed in the three way embrace for a long time, swaying around.

Johnny felt someone tap his shoulder. They broke out of their hug and turned to look at Mark.

“Have you seen Jungwoo?” he asked.

The sun was just starting to set. Johnny was looking forward to cooler weather. Yuta checked his watch.

“Sicheng is on in thirty minutes,” he said.

“I haven’t seen him in a long time,” Mark said, sounding pitiful.

“Oh boy…” Yuta muttered under his breath.

“Come on, Mark, let’s find him!” Johnny slung his arm around Mark’s shoulders. Mark cringed but it didn’t bother Johnny at all. “Come on everyone!”

They all wandered through the throng of sweaty high and drunk people. Johnny’s eyes scanned the area, pleasantly. He was really good at finding people, being taller than most of them. So of course, he spotted Jungwoo first. He stopped in his tracks and tried to think of a quick excuse, but his brain was operating a little slower than usual.

“Maybe—” Johnny tried.

“There he is!” Yuta cried, pointing. Johnny pushed Yuta’s arm down, but it was too late. The damage was already done.

They all saw Jungwoo making out with someone.

Johnny had no idea who it was and Jungwoo probably didn’t either. Some random dude. Molly could work that way. Unfortunately, that was no excuse. Mark’s face fell.

“Jungwoo!” he cried out.

Jungwoo pulled away from the sloppy kissfest and turned to Mark with a grin. “Oh heyyyyy Markie,” he said.

Mark’s face was pale as he stared at Jungwoo. “What are you doing?”

Jungwoo shrugged, walked over to them, cheerfully. “Having fun!”

He reached for Mark, but Mark took a step back.

“You don’t even care,” Mark said.

“What?” Jungwoo said.

“Mark, he’s on Molly…” Taeyong said, quietly.

“What?” Jungwoo said again.

“I can’t believe you’d do that to me, Woo,” Mark said, sounding incredibly hurt. He turned around and started walking away.

“Mark, where are you going?” Johnny called after him.

“To the parking lot!” Mark’s voice broke.

“Uh oh…” Taeyong said. “I’ll go with him.”

Johnny watched Taeyong jog after Mark. Then he turned back to Jungwoo who was still looking confused.

“What did I do?” Jungwoo asked with too bright eyes. Johnny looked at Yuta out of the corner of his eye. Fuck, this was all his fault. He should have been keeping an eye on Jungwoo, especially since it was his first time. Instead, he was skipping around and tripping out with his friends.

“Dude, you were making out with someone else and you have a boyfriend,” Yuta said.

Jungwoo looked like he honestly didn’t realize it. “Well… I didn’t mean to!”

“Doesn’t matter,” Yuta said. “What’s done is done.”

“Is he gonna break up with me?”

“Probably,” Yuta said. “You’re a cheater. You cheated on him.”

Johnny gave Yuta a look. “Yuta…” he said, under his breath. Then he took a deep breath. “Look, we’re all… let’s just wait for things to wear off.”

“I’m not a cheater!” Jungwoo said. “I… I didn’t mean to. I love Mark. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me!”

“Could have fooled me,” Yuta said. “You are a cheater. People don’t kiss other people when they’re really in love. Seems like you’re a liar, Jungwoo.”

“Yuta!” Johnny yelled. “What’s wrong with you?”

He felt like his high had been totally ruined. Worst yet, Jungwoo burst into tears.

“I’m sorry!” Jungwoo said. Then he turned around, pushing his way through the crowd.

“Jungwoo!” Johnny called. Then he turned to Yuta. “Shit! What are you doing?”

“I’m not saying anything that isn’t true.”

“Why are you being so _hateful_ on this trip?” Johnny demanded. “Even on E, you are being so negative and insufferable. What’s wrong with you?”

“Did it ever occur to you that other people have problems?” Yuta yelled back. “I have problems, too.”

“Well, tell me or get over them!” Johnny said. “I’m sick of arguing with you when we should be having a good time with our friends!”

“What friends?” Yuta cried. Johnny looked around. Everyone was gone. He had no idea where Jungwoo went.

“Shit,” Johnny said. “Where’s Jungwoo?”

“Who cares?”

“Yuta! I can’t lose Jungwoo. Jaehyun will kill me.”

“Johnny, chill. He’s like 20 years old. He’s not a kid.”

“He doesn’t know his way around here. He’s upset and he’s high because we gave him drugs. Something could happen to him. You don’t understand. He’s _everything_ to Jaehyun. If something happens to him--” Johnny cut himself off. He couldn’t bear to think about it. Thinking about losing the love of his life made his breathing too fast and his head feel dizzy. Jaehyun would never forgive him. Johnny grabbed his hair and took a deep breath. He needed to think but it was difficult with everything going on.

An announcement blasted over the loudspeaker.

_DJ WINWIN ON THE MAIN STAGE IN FIVE MINUTES!_

The crowd cheered. Instead of sounding like pure excitement, it sounded like a primal roar. Like some terrible beast could come out of the crowd and swallow them up.

Johnny shivered despite the heat.

“Sicheng is almost on…” He mumbled. “I know you’ve been waiting for this. I’ll… I’ll go look for Jungwoo. I can’t—”

Johnny totally felt on the edge of freaking out, thinking about betraying Jaehyun like this.

Yuta laid a hand on Johnny’s arm. He looked into Yuta’s calm eyes.

“Come on,” Yuta said. “Let’s go find him.”

🐻

They had never left the festival so early on the first night. Jaehyun and Doyoung rolled up with the minivan around ten o’clock. Taeyong climbed in the back with Mark. Johnny walked around to the driver’s side. Jaehyun rolled the window down.

“Johnny, what’s wrong?” Jaehyun said, immediately, obviously taking in Johnny’s face. Johnny rubbed over his messy, sweaty hair.

“Jaehyun…” he said, quietly.

“We’re here!” Yuta called. He was walking over to the van with his arm around Jungwoo. They’d split up an hour ago, looking for Jungwoo. Then Johnny got the group text telling them that Jaehyun and Doyoung were back with the van. He truly thought Jungwoo was still missing.

Johnny breathed a sigh of relief.

Jungwoo looked tired.

“I found him,” Yuta said.

Yuta squeezed in the back with Taeyong and Mark. Johnny sat in the bucket seat next to Jungwoo.

They drove back to the cabin in silence.

“Soooo…” Doyoung said. “Did you guys have a good time?”

The drive to the creepy cabin in the woods took about a half hour. It was even worse at night. Johnny was nervous for Jaehyun, maneuvering the big minivan through the twisty, narrow roads but he did a really good job. It was definitely a turn on.

Jaehyun parked in front of the cabin and turned to look at all of them.

“Look,” he said. “The cabin… it’s not pretty. We did the best we could. I think we can all sleep there for a couple of nights.”

“Jaehyun and I worked hard all day,” Doyoung said, “I don’t want to hear a bunch of complaints. We’re stuck here so let’s make the best of it.”

They all piled out of the car. Johnny stretched, looking at the murder cabin in the darkness. The lights were on inside, so it felt a little better.

Jaehyun came over to him and gave him a hug. Then he paused and sniffed him.

“Johnny, you need a shower,” Jaehyun said. “Where’s your hoodie?”

“Let’s take one together,” Johnny said. Then he raised his voice. “Dibs on showering first!”

“Thank God…” Doyoung mumbled. “He was sitting behind me.”

“Jungwoo, Mark…” Yuta said. “Come with me…” He beckoned the younger two over and the three of them walked down the driveway, away from the house.

“What happened?” Taeyong asked, Johnny in a hushed voice.

“I don’t know,” Johnny said.

Inside, they saw that Doyoung and Jaehyun had bought a bunch of sleeping bags, blankets and pillows and spread them in bare living room, like a huge sleepover. There wasn’t any AC, so all the windows were open and they had a couple of fans.

“The two bedrooms have air mattresses,” Jaehyun said. “I guess we can decide—”

“I call dibs on a room tonight!” Johnny said. Jaehyun chuckled while Doyoung groaned.

“This is going to get gross,” Doyoung said. “I can’t perform under these circumstances.”

Taeyong turned red. Johnny turned to Doyoung and raised his eyebrow. “That was even grosser,” he said, laughing.

Doyoung and Jaehyun had bought a ton of food and drinks and alcohol. Doyoung started heating up a couple of frozen pizza with Taeyong’s help. Johnny and Jaehyun brought all the luggage inside.

Then they slipped inside the bathroom.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you all day,” Johnny said. He kissed Jaehyun hard and their clothes came off pretty quickly. Johnny grabbed Jaehyun’s hips and pulled Jaehyun closer, kissing him deeply for a long time until Jaehyun pulled away, lightly sucking on Johnny’s tongue.

“You smell,” Jaehyun teased.

“You like it,” Johnny said with a grin.

They kissed again as Jaehyun groped Johnny’s ass. Johnny loved when he did that. Jaehyun kissed all over Johnny’s chest, sucking his nipples hard. Johnny groaned, his voice echoing off the tile walls surrounding them. Then Jaehyun wiggled his nose under Johnny’s armpit and took a big whiff.

“Jaehyun!” Johnny said, laughing in surprise. Jaehyun looked up at him, innocently.

“I like it,” Jaehyun said, licking over his lips.

“Can we go for 59 in here…?” Johnny grinned.

“I did clean up all the hair,” Jaehyun said.

Johnny turned on the shower. The water ran cold at first and then it got extremely hot. When they tried to turn it down a little, it became freezing cold again. It was hard to take a shower. That wasn’t the only thing that was hard in the shower. They decided to focus on getting off first. 59 didn’t happen, but they had other types of fun. Then they managed to clean the important parts of their bodies between the freezing cold and scalding hot situation. They got out, shivering.

“Jaehyun?” Johnny asked, as he rubbed Jaehyun vigorously with a towel (also courtesy of the shopping trip), drying him off.

“Johnny?” Jaehyun echoed. He wrapped his arms around Johnny’s neck and gave him a kiss.

“Do you think I can be… too honest, sometimes?”

“What do you mean?” Jaehyun asked.

Johnny shrugged. “Yuta said that. I don’t know. He thinks I live in a fantasy world.”

Jaehyun smiled a little. “I don’t think you can be too honest… no. But I do think that… sometimes you feel… too responsible for other people’s happiness. You love to make people happy at the expense of yourself. You have to put yourself first sometimes, too. You can’t always make everyone happy.”

Johnny smiled, looking into Jaehyun’s eyes. “Does that apply to you?”

“Yeah,” Jaehyun said.

“I always want to make you happy.”

“I know. And you always do, John.” Jaehyun kissed Johnny’s lips again. “I love you. I’m happy just being with you. You don’t have to do anything special. I love it when you do but don’t put pressure on yourself for me.”

“I love making you happy,” Johnny said. “That’s always going to be my number one hobby from now on.”

Jaehyun rolled his eyes with a little smile. “You’re so cheesy, Johnny,” he mumbled, grabbing Johnny’s face, and giving him another kiss. “Your number one hobby should be making yourself happy.”

“You being happy makes me happy,” Johnny said. “There you go.” Johnny sobered up a bit and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He didn’t plan to talk about this now but all of a sudden it seemed like the right time.

“Speaking of making you happy…” Johnny said, wrapping a towel around his waist. Neither of them had the foresight to bring clothes into the bathroom. “I wanna tell you something. It might not make you happy. It’s…”

“What?” Jaehyun laid a hand on Johnny’s arm, looking at him seriously. “Tell me.”

Johnny swallowed. “Jaehyun, you know I love you more than anything, right?”

“Now, you’re scaring me.”

“I got a job offer in Chicago. For after graduation.”

Johnny finally blurted the words out. He felt instant relief. Now it was finally out in the open.

Jaehyun didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Oh,” Jaehyun finally said. “I thought it would be worse.”

“I wanna be with you,” Johnny said. “I always want to be with you, Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun held Johnny’s face firmly, peering up at him. “We’ll make it work, Johnny. I guess we better keep up our streak up until then. So you better make sure we can use one of the rooms…”

Jaehyun gave Johnny a long, sexy, seductive kiss. “Congratulations, baby,” Jaehyun whispered against Johnny’s damp lips.

Johnny grinned.

🐻

When Johnny and Jaehyun finally got dressed and came back out, the pizza was ready. Jungwoo, Mark, Doyoung, Taeyong and Yuta were sitting on the sleeping bags, eating off paper plates.

“We have beer,” Taeyong said. “They’re in the fridge. Doyoung cleaned it by the way.”

“Pizza and Beer Friday nights!” Yuta called. Johnny stepped over and went to give Taeyong and Yuta each a high five. They still hadn’t missed one Friday of their tradition since they started it that year, except for when they were apart for Winter Break.

“Hyung!” Jungwoo cried, jumping up and running over to hug Jaehyun like he hadn’t see him in ten years. Jaehyun hugged him back and patted his hair. Johnny was so relieved Yuta found him. Jungwoo didn’t look upset as he settled back down next to Mark.

“Hey, I’ll help you guys get some pizza,” Yuta said, getting up. Yuta walked with Johnny and Jaehyun to the kitchen.

“So,” Yuta said, as the kitchen door swung shut behind them. “Are we going to come clean?”

Jaehyun quirked an eyebrow, looking between the two of them.

“We all took Molly at the festival,” Johnny said.

“So that’s why you were so… in the shower…” Jaehyun raised his eyebrows again, looking at Johnny. Yuta slapped his hand over his face.

“No, baby, I’m always like that,” Johnny said with a grin.

“Okay, I _did not_ need to hear that!” Yuta said.

“What happened?” Jaehyun asked.

“All of us took it except Mark,” Johnny said. “Next thing we knew, Jungwoo was making out with someone and Mark saw.”

“Oh no…” Jaehyun mumbled.

“Jungwoo ran off…” Johnny looked over at Yuta. “How did you find him?”

“I have some experience making bad decisions on drugs,” Yuta said, with a shrug. “I just found him.”

“That sucks,” Jaehyun said. “I feel bad for Mark… and Jungwoo…”

“Yeah, well,” Yuta said. “I talked to them.”

“I noticed,” Johnny said. “What did you say?”

“I told them about my own story,” Yuta said.

“What story?” Johnny narrowed his eyes, suspiciously.

Yuta laughed at Johnny’s look. “That’s why I told you. You don’t know everything about everybody, Johnny.”

“What don’t I know?” Johnny asked, leaning against the counter.

Yuta took a deep breath. “I hooked up with Sicheng… last year.”

“Holy shit.” Johnny’s mouth dropped open. “Yuta, you never told me.”

Yuta shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah well… I have secrets, Johnny. It’s okay to have a few. I… finally got to confess. And we said… we’d try the whole… long distance thing.”

Johnny blinked at his best friend. He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Yuta had been _dating_ his crush from forever and Johnny had no idea.

“But…” Yuta said, slowly. “Johnny, remember that end of summer blow out party we went to…?”

Johnny nodded. It was the first truly crazy party of their senior year. And his last truly crazy party for a while because he ended up puking the whole next day. Anyone would take a break from drinking after that.

Yuta looked at Jaehyun. “We all got super wasted. I ended up hooking up with someone.”

“I remember that,” Johnny said, his eyes wide.

“You don’t remember shit from that night, Johnny!”

Johnny laughed because that was true. “Yeah, but… I remember you telling us you hooked up with someone later.”

Yuta nodded. “Yeah. Well… I met up with Sicheng the next weekend and I… ended up telling him what I had done. He broke up with me.”

Yuta sighed heavily. Johnny looked at Yuta, sadly.

“Yuta…” he said. “I had no idea you were going through all that. I swear.”

Yuta waved a hand. “It was my own stupid fault. I blew my own chance. I thought bringing Jaehyun and Jungwoo and Mark and Doyoung with us would be a good distraction. But the closer I got to seeing him again… I started freaking out. I really wanted to see him, but I was scared to see him, too.” Yuta looked at Jaehyun sheepishly. “I’m sorry I was a jerk to Jungwoo and Mark… and you… and everyone.”

Jaehyun nodded, once. “I understand,” he said. “No apologies, Yuta.”

“I know what Johnny was trying to do,” Yuta said. “He loves you Jaehyun. He wants you to be part of his family and we’re part of his family. He’s just trying to bring us all together.” Yuta looked over at Johnny. “And I love you for that.”

“I love you, too,” Johnny said, smiling. He didn’t need to be on Molly to say those words.

“I should have told you what happened,” Yuta said. “You’re right. We need to be honest with each other.”

“Always,” Johnny agreed.

“That’s what I told Jungwoo and Mark,” Yuta said. “I just told them my story. I said I really liked Sicheng and I still screwed up. Jungwoo said he loves Mark. I encouraged them to give each other a second chance. Maybe stay sober the rest of the weekend?” Yuta took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “And I apologized to Jungwoo because I totally took my own shit out on him and he didn’t deserve that. He made a mistake.” Yuta closed his eyes for a moment, sighing through his nose. Johnny rubbed Yuta’s back.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t know you were going through all of that,” Johnny said. “Tell me stuff. I’m always going to be there for you.”

Yuta nodded, once. “I know, Johnny.”

Jaehyun smiled at Yuta, gratefully. “Thank you, Yuta. Jungwoo is… he can be hard to handle. I appreciate you reaching out to him.”

“Anyone who’s important to Johnny is important to me,” Yuta said. “You’re important to Johnny. Jungwoo’s important to you. Therefore, Jungwoo’s important to Johnny and Jungwoo is important to me.”

Johnny chuckled a little. “What, am I in business calc right now?”

They all laughed.

“Water. Beer.” Yuta pointed at the small cooler on the counter. “I say, we all get a good night’s rest tonight and come down. Tomorrow is a do-over.”

“Yeah,” Johnny said, grinning. “Tomorrow will be the best day of WallyFest ever.”

“I’m excited,” Jaehyun said. “I haven’t even gone yet.”

Johnny grabbed a couple beers and handed one to Jaehyun and Yuta. He was getting one for himself when Yuta’s phone beeped. Johnny heard him gasp.

“What’s up?” Johnny asked.

“It’s Sicheng…” Yuta said. “He said… he saw me at the festival.” Yuta lowered his phone. “He wants me to come over to his hotel room.”

“Go!” Johnny said, immediately. “It’ll be better than staying at this dump.”

“I’m nervous,” Yuta said. “What if he wants to… I don’t know… yell at me.”

“Or maybe he wants to give you a second chance…” Johnny nudged Yuta with a soft smile. “Go.”

“Okay…” Yuta texted back and took a deep breath. “Wait, how am I gonna get there…?”

“I’ll drive,” Jaehyun said. “It’ll give us some time to talk. I want to know the dirt about Johnny.”

“Oh, I’ve got four years’ worth of dirt,” Yuta said, with a grin.

“Hey!” Johnny said. “Maybe I should come—”

“Noooooo,” Jaehyun said, laughing. “Johnny, I thought you were always honest. You said you didn’t have any dirt.”

“He definitely has dirt.” Yuta took Jaehyun’s arm. “Come on, let’s go. I’ll tell you.”

Johnny watched them go, smiling fondly. Maybe this weekend would work out after all.

Johnny left the kitchen with his pizza and joined the dogpile on the sleeping bags in the living room.

“Everyone’s having fun?” Johnny said.

“As much fun as you can have with no AC and no TV!” Taeyong chirped, cheerfully. “And not enough service to stream Netflix.”

“Let’s listen to the radio,” Johnny said. He noticed a small radio sitting on the mantle above the fireplace. He got up and turned it on. The only stations he could find were country music. After a few minutes, Johnny decided to just leave it be. No one was paying attention to the radio anyway.

Jungwoo was lying with his head in Mark’s lap. Doyoung and Taeyong were sitting among a bunch of pillows, cuddled together.

Right now, Johnny was the 5th wheel.

But he didn’t mind. His boyfriend was hanging out with his best friend and he couldn’t think of anything better in the world.

Well, maybe a few things.

But this was the most important thing now.

“I love you, guys,” Johnny said, gazing over all of them.

“Johnny, are you still on E?” Jungwoo asked.

“I’m just happy,” Johnny said. “Tomorrow we’re going crazy. Okay? All of us. This trip could have been a disaster, but I think it’s going to the best!”

“He’s still on E,” Doyoung stage whispered.

Johnny grinned as the others giggled. He didn’t mind if they made fun of him. It didn’t matter if he was too earnest sometimes.

All he wanted was for everyone to have a good time and right now, his wish was coming true.

**Author's Note:**

> Be careful on Airbnb, don't get scammed.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and Kudos appreciated!
> 
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